Households in urban Australia spent more on housing while rural households spent more on transport, according to analysis of regional Household Expenditure Survey data by the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS).

In 2003-04, households in rural Australia spent $160 on average a week on transport, with households in urban areas spending around $136 a week. In rural Australia, spending on transport accounted for around one fifth of total spending on goods and services.

Other findings in today's release are:

The top three expenditure items for urban households were current housing costs, food and non-alcoholic beverages and transport. Meanwhile the three highest expenditure items for rural households were transport, food and non-alcoholic beverages and recreation.

Households in Victoria, South Australia and Tasmania spent more on domestic fuel and power than households in New South Wales, Queensland and Western Australia.

As the level of remoteness increased, so did the level of spending on tobacco products with households in rural and other urban areas tending to spend more on tobacco products than households in major urban areas.

In Queensland, South Australia and Western Australia, households in rural areas spent the most on food and non-alcoholic beverages whereas in New South Wales, Victoria and Tasmania, households in major urban areas spent the most on food and non-alcoholic beverages.

Households in major urban and rural Australia tended to spend more on medical care and health expenses than households in other urban areas in Australia.

Media note:Major Urban = areas with populations of 100,000 or more people. Other Urban = areas with populations of 1,000 to 99,999 people. Rural = areas with populations less than 1,000 people.

Further information is in Perspectives on Regional Australia: Household Expenditure throughout Australia, 2003-04 (cat. no. 1380.0.55.003).